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3© T H E E N G L I S H E X P E R I E N C E 2 0 1 6
P R E S C R I B E D P O E M S A N D L E A R N I N G M A T E R I A L S F O R G R A D E 1 2
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD
About The English Experience ...............................................................................................................................6
Our approach ......................................................................................................................................................6
Using this resource ..............................................................................................................................................7
INTRODUCTION TO POETRY
Reading and understanding poetry........................................................................................................................8
Answering contextual poetry questions ...............................................................................................................13
THE ROMANTICS
Introduction to the Romantic Era .........................................................................................................................15
Samuel Taylor Coleridge: “Kubla Khan” ................................................................................................................17
Biography ..................................................................................................................................................17
Poem .........................................................................................................................................................18
Analysis .....................................................................................................................................................20
Questions ..................................................................................................................................................22
THE VICTORIANS
Introduction to the Victorian Era ..........................................................................................................................28
Elizabeth Barrett Browning: “If thou must love me” ...............................................................................................31
Biography ..................................................................................................................................................31
Poem .........................................................................................................................................................32
Analysis .....................................................................................................................................................32
Questions ..................................................................................................................................................34
Walt Whitman: “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” ........................................................................................40
Biography ..................................................................................................................................................40
Poem .........................................................................................................................................................41
Analysis .....................................................................................................................................................41
Questions ..................................................................................................................................................43
Christina Rossetti: “My Secret” ...........................................................................................................................47
Biography ..................................................................................................................................................47
Poem .........................................................................................................................................................48
Analysis .....................................................................................................................................................49
Questions ..................................................................................................................................................52
MODERNISM
Introduction to Modernism..................................................................................................................................58
4 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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William Butler Yeats: “The Song of Wandering Aengus” ........................................................................................60
Biography ..................................................................................................................................................60
Poem .........................................................................................................................................................61
Analysis .....................................................................................................................................................62
Questions ..................................................................................................................................................64
Ezra Pound: “These Fought in Any Case” .............................................................................................................69
Biography ..................................................................................................................................................69
Poem .........................................................................................................................................................71
Analysis .....................................................................................................................................................72
Questions ..................................................................................................................................................76
LATE MODERNISM/POSTMODERNISM
Introduction to Late Modernism/Postmodernism ..................................................................................................82
Phoebe Hesketh: “A Poem is a Painting” .............................................................................................................84
Biography ..................................................................................................................................................84
Poem .........................................................................................................................................................85
Analysis .....................................................................................................................................................85
Questions ..................................................................................................................................................88
May Swenson: “How to be Old” ..........................................................................................................................94
Biography ..................................................................................................................................................94
Poem .........................................................................................................................................................95
Analysis .....................................................................................................................................................95
Questions ..................................................................................................................................................98
Dylan Thomas: “Poem in October” ....................................................................................................................104
Biography ................................................................................................................................................104
Poem .......................................................................................................................................................105
Analysis ...................................................................................................................................................107
Questions ................................................................................................................................................110
Margaret Atwood: “Progressive Insanities of a Pioneer” ......................................................................................116
Biography ................................................................................................................................................116
Poem .......................................................................................................................................................117
Analysis ...................................................................................................................................................120
Questions ................................................................................................................................................123
Carol Ann Duffy: “Stealing” ...............................................................................................................................130
Biography ................................................................................................................................................130
Poem .......................................................................................................................................................131
Analysis ...................................................................................................................................................132
Questions ................................................................................................................................................134
AFRICAN POETRY
Introduction to African Poetry............................................................................................................................140
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Richard Ntiru: “The Pauper” ..............................................................................................................................142
Biography ................................................................................................................................................142
Poem .......................................................................................................................................................142
Analysis ...................................................................................................................................................143
Questions ................................................................................................................................................147
SOUTH AFRICAN POETRY
Introduction to South African Poetry ..................................................................................................................152
Mary Morison Webster: “Rain after Drought” ......................................................................................................155
Biography ................................................................................................................................................155
Poem .......................................................................................................................................................156
Analysis ...................................................................................................................................................156
Questions ................................................................................................................................................158
Sipho Sepamla: “Da Same, Da Same” ...............................................................................................................164
Biography ................................................................................................................................................164
Poem .......................................................................................................................................................165
Analysis ...................................................................................................................................................166
Questions ................................................................................................................................................167
Stephan Gray: “The Herb Garden” .....................................................................................................................173
Biography ................................................................................................................................................173
Poem .......................................................................................................................................................174
Analysis ...................................................................................................................................................174
Questions ................................................................................................................................................177
Lynne Bryer: “Release, February 1990” .............................................................................................................183
Biography ................................................................................................................................................183
Poem .......................................................................................................................................................184
Analysis ...................................................................................................................................................185
Questions ................................................................................................................................................187
Adam Schwartzman: “Hadedah” .......................................................................................................................192
Biography ................................................................................................................................................192
Poem .......................................................................................................................................................193
Analysis ...................................................................................................................................................194
Questions ................................................................................................................................................197
UNSEEN POETRY
Getting to grips with unfamiliar poetry: some guidelines .....................................................................................202
William Wordsworth: “The World Is Too Much With Us” .......................................................................................204
Tatamkhulu Afrika: “Nothing’s Changed” ............................................................................................................207
Leon de Kock: “Middle of the Night” ..................................................................................................................211
Marge Piercy: “Barbie Doll” ..............................................................................................................................215
Jamie Lawson: “Wasn’t Expecting That” ............................................................................................................218
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................222
6 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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FOREWORD
ABOUT THE ENGLISH EXPERIENCE
The English Experience is an independent South African publishing house that specialises in developing
high-quality English and Life Orientation educational resources for IEB educators and students. The team of
passionate, talented experts behind The English Experience works tirelessly to ensure that every resource
encourages insight, growth and debate — enriching and challenging both educators and students — without
losing sight of the important goal of examination readiness and success.
Focused on bringing the subject to life, every resource The English Experience publishes incorporates a range of features
— including content and contextual questions and stimulating enrichment materials — designed to encourage a critical
appreciation of the subject and to inspire the higher order thinking for which examiners are always looking.
The world-class English Experience team includes highly experienced educators, some with over 20 years of classroom
experience; passionate literary experts in various fi elds, such as historical fi ction, poetry and Shakespeare; fanatical his-
torians and researchers; creative writers; skilled editors; pernickety proofreaders and obsessive fact checkers — together
with spirited university lecturers and enthusiastic young minds who help to ensure our approach remains unique and fresh.
While examination readiness and success is a non-negotiable, our aspiration is to inspire a genuine interest in, and love of,
English literature.
OUR APPROACH
Perhaps the toughest challenge in teaching poetry to modern learners is convincing them that the effort
often required to grasp the meaning of a poem is worth it. Decoding the language and deciphering the mes-
sage of a poem can be taxing for learners, so it’s perhaps not surprising that many of them see poems as
works through which they have to slog in order to pass an examination.
This resource has been written with this reality in mind and particular attention has been paid to providing the kind of context
and insight necessary to help students engage fully with each poem and to discover for themselves why it has captivated others.
We believe that studying poetry rewards us with a broader, deeper understanding of ourselves and of the world around
us; that is why this resource does more than provide learners with a detailed and, hopefully, eye-opening analysis of each
poem. It also encourages them to engage with each work on a personal level and to uncover their own responses through
the extensive contextual and intertextual questions.
Throughout this resource, learners are challenged to agree or disagree with the analyses provided. By formulating and
expressing their own responses to the opinions, ideas and themes explored in the pages of this resource, learners are
encouraged to refl ect and grow as individuals as well as students.
Visit www.englishexperience.co.za to learn more about The English Experience and the range of educational
resources the company publishes. You can scan this QR code to launch the site on your phone automatically. Please
note, you will need to have the free ‘Tag reader’ app installed, which you can download from http://gettag.mobi
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In the end, we have approached the poetry syllabus the same way we approach every text: with two, interrelated goals in
mind. The fi rst non-negotiable objective is to ensure examination readiness and success. The second is to inspire a genuine
interest in, and appreciation of, the works being studied.
USING THIS RESOURCE
This comprehensive resource ensures that educators
are fully equipped to present the prescribed poems in
context and in an interesting way, as well as ensuring
that students have everything they need to explore the
syllabus with confi dence. It includes: the full text of each
of the poems prescribed in the IEB Grade 12 syllabus; an
introduction to the era in which each poem was written;
a biography of every poet; an in-depth analysis of each
poem and a set of stimulating contextual and intertextual
questions that challenge learners to think critically about,
and to formulate their own responses to, each work.
POETRY IN CONTEXT
The poems are arranged into sections that illustrate the progres-
sion of English poetry through the two centuries covered by the
syllabus, from the Romantic period starting in the late 18th century
to the Postmodernist movement of the 1950s, as well as contem-
porary African verse.
Each section begins with an introduction to the period that draws
attention to the major events and infl uences of the time, and some
of the themes that are highlighted in the analyses that follow. After
this introduction, a concise biography of each poet is presented,
followed by his or her poem, an analysis of the poem and then a
set of contextual and intertextual questions.
The purpose of this structure is to help learners appreciate how English literature has developed over the last 200 years and
to provide them with a social, political and personal context that, it is hoped, will help them to understand better and to value
the work of each poet. With this in mind, we recommend working through this resource in chronological order.
UNSEEN SECTION
The popular Unseen Poetry section, which prepares learners for tackling poetry they have not yet come across (and, thus,
the poem they will be presented with in Paper I, Question 4 of the examination), has been updated and revised and also
features guidelines on how to prepare for the contextual poetry section of the fi nal examination.
We hope you enjoy this resource as much as we enjoyed putting it together. If you have any comments, queries or sugges-
tions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
KEY TO USING THE BOXES IN THIS RESOURCE:
Defi nition or Glossary
Provides the meanings of words and
terms used in the text
Information
Provides additional details or facts
about a topic
Alert
Something to which you need to pay
attention or of which you need to be
aware
Quirky Fact
Fun, interesting, extraneous
information
Checklist
A list of items or activities required to
complete a task satisfactorily
8 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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INTRODUCTION TO POETRY
READING AND UNDERSTANDING POETRY
Reading and analysing poetry effectively is just as much about attitude as it is about mastering the neces-
sary techniques. You will benefi t from developing useful methods and honing your skills, but, ultimately,
understanding poetry is about being open to new ideas and new ways of seeing the world around you.
Many readers complain that they develop a kind of ‘block’ when it comes
to poetry, which prevents them from understanding the ‘hidden message’
in the poem; however, poets aren’t trying to trick or confuse readers. Their
message isn’t actually ‘hidden’, but expressed in a way that is unique,
complex and often very striking.
Poets don’t wish to frustrate you, but they are trying to challenge or pro-
voke you: not to work out an obscure meaning hidden behind fancy poetic
techniques, but to think about their subject in a new, enlightening way. If a
poem makes you think about an issue or look at something in a different
light, then the poet has succeeded (and so have you!).
HOW TO ANALYSE A POEM
Before tackling a set of contextual questions about a poem, take the time to read through the verse carefully
and to conduct a ‘mini-analysis’ (using the guidelines that follow). That way, when you tackle the questions,
you will already have all the answers at your fi ngertips.
Even if you’re unable to use all of your observations in your answers, conducting a mini-analysis will enrich your understand-
ing of the poem as a whole and ensure that your answers are as comprehensive and well-informed as possible.
STEP 1: READ THE POEM
It’s rare to understand a poem fully the fi rst time you read it; most poems take several readings to be truly
appreciated. Don’t try to analyse the poem as soon as you start reading it. If you decide what the poem is
about or what message it is trying to convey too early on, you will run the risk of missing an important point
later and may try to ‘force’ a particular meaning on the poem. Be curious, be open-minded, ask questions
and enjoy the poem before you start trying to deconstruct and analyse it.
Simply reading the poem through several times without over-thinking it will help you to access the poet’s meaning and
technique(s). If you can, read the poem aloud. This process will not only help you to detect patterns of rhyme and rhythm, it
will often make the meaning of the poem clearer.
Be sure that you are reading the poem correctly by paying special attention to the use of punctuation or lack thereof. The
‘sentences’ or ‘pauses’ within the poem, for instance, will help you to decipher its meaning. Make sure that you differentiate
between enjambed and end-stopped lines.
Remember that interpreting a poem
is not just working out what the poet
means, but also what the poem means to
you. This practice is more than just the fun,
potentially enlightening part of the process.
Developing and substantiating your own
views is exactly the kind of independent,
individual thinking the IEB encourages. It
will also serve you well in the examination
because the examiners will always want to
reward a different, fresh interpretation.
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Once you’ve read through the poem a few times, pick up a pencil and
read through it again, this time, making notes or marks on the poem.
React to the poem — write in the margins, circle words or phrases
that stick out or confuse you, underline repeated words or striking im-
ages, and draw lines to indicate related ideas or metaphors.
STEP 2: WHAT’S THE STORY?
Once you’ve read through the poem several times (not just
once, but twice or even three times), you are ready to start
deciphering its meaning. Before anything else, ask yourself:
What is the poem about? What message is the speaker trying
to convey?
If the poem is particularly long, it may help you to re-read each stanza
and jot down a few words or phrases that summarise that stanza. Once
you have done this, work out one or two sentences that accurately sum
up the subject and theme of the poem.
When determining the subject and theme of a poem, it is important
to know something about its context. Obviously, knowing a few facts
about the poet — such as when he or she lived — will help with your
understanding and appreciation of the poem.
If you were to publish a poem now, your poem would be better under-
stood by future generations if they knew a little about you as a person
— for example, when and where you lived, your beliefs, what the social
climate was, what society expected or frowned upon and what your
personal philosophies included.
The same is true for any poem you encounter and, therefore,
it’s important that you familiarise yourself with the different
literary periods and the common concerns or styles of these
eras, as well as any major historical events that may have
infl uenced the poets of a particular era.
Many people believe that any work of art — poetry included
— should be seen as an independent entity, but you should
be aware that no artist exists in a vacuum, free from outside
infl uences. This fact is often particularly true of poets, who
regularly feel compelled to offer commentary on their society,
and to engage with the social or political concerns of the day.
Even if a poem has a ‘universal’ or timeless theme, it still
helps to know what may have compelled the poet to put pen
to paper. The date of birth of the poet will usually give you a
good indication of the period or movement to which he or she
An enjambed line occurs when a sentence
or phrase (a unit of syntactic meaning) runs on
from one line of verse to the next, requiring you
to read the two (or more) lines together to grasp
their meaning fully.
An end-stopped line occurs when the sen-
tence or phrase is completed at the end of the
line of verse and is usually indicated by a full
stop.
Consider the following extract taken from the
opening lines of Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali’s
poem “An Abandoned Bundle”:
The morning mist
and chimney smoke
of White City Jabavu
fl owed thick yellow
as pus oozing
from a gigantic sore.
These lines don’t make much sense if you stop
or pause at the end of the fi rst, second, third,
fourth or fi fth line. Read together, on the other
hand, the six lines make up one thought. Notice
the full stop at the end of the sixth line. This
indicates that we should read these lines as
one thought or unit of meaning.
TONE VOCABULARY
Words that describe tone can include: admiring,
ambivalent, amused, anxious, angry, apologetic, bitter,
celebratory, condescending, contemplative, critical, cyni-
cal, defensive, defi ant, desperate, depressed, determined,
disdainful, disgusted, disheartened, dramatic, earnest,
enthusiastic, excited, fearful, formal, frank, friendly,
frustrated, gloomy, happy, honest, hopeful, humorous,
indifferent, indignant, informal, intimate, ironic, irreverent,
judgmental, lighthearted, lofty, malevolent, malicious, mel-
ancholy, mischievous, mocking, negative, nostalgic, objec-
tive, optimistic, patient, patronising, pensive, perplexed,
persuasive, pessimistic, refl ective, regretful, remorseful,
reverent, sarcastic, satirical, scathing, self-pitying, sensa-
tionalist, sentimental, serious, sincere, sceptical, solemn,
stiff, straightforward, sympathetic, thankful, threatening,
tragic, urgent, vindictive and witty.
10 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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belonged, particularly if you aren’t given any additional
information. Remember, however, that you should avoid
making sweeping statements or generalisations
about a particular time period or literary movement.
You should also determine who is speaking in the poem.
Remember that the speaker is not necessarily the poet
and the views expressed by the speaker are not neces-
sarily an indication of the poet’s own views. A ‘persona’
might have been adopted in order to tell a particular
story or present a certain viewpoint. Just as authors
create characters in novels, poets often create charac-
ters through which to tell the story of their poems.
STEP 3: CLOSE READING
Conducting a close reading of a poem is a skill
that you can learn and apply to any verse. Once
you have mastered the technique of recognising
particular poetic devices and the effects created
by them, you will be able to adapt your approach
to suit the text you have been asked to analyse.
First, consider what caught your attention (the
phrases or words you underlined or circled when fi rst
reading the poem, perhaps). Why did these particu-
lar features strike you as effective or interesting? Is
the poet using a particular poetic device or Figure of
Speech? Why is the poet trying to draw your attention
to this particular aspect of the poem?
Once you have dealt with the aspects of the poem that
were most striking to you, return to the beginning of
the poem and work carefully through each line, taking
note of the more subtle poetic devices and Figures
of Speech employed by the poet. Again, ask yourself
each time: why has the poet done this?
Remember to consider the connotations of the words chosen by the poet, particularly any words that seem unusual
or particularly arresting. Every word in a poem is carefully chosen by the poet, and should be considered in context in
order to appreciate its impact or effect on your understanding of the poem as a whole. The word ‘red’, for example, could
simply be a colour or it could be representative of anger, passion, hatred or danger.
Punctuation or typography may give you further clues about the particular emphasis being given to a word by the
poet. A word on its own line, for example, is always signifi cant and the poet is drawing attention to it. Again, always ask:
why has the poet made these particular decisions?
CLOSE READING CHECKLIST
The basics:
Make sure that you are clear on the following:
• the subject (what the poem is about)
• the context (poet’s background and/or literary period)
• the speaker
• the tone/attitude
• the theme or message
Style and technique:
Determine whether the poet has employed any of the following
techniques:
• a particular form or structure (such as a sonnet or ode)
• unusual diction (word choice) or punctuation
• striking or unusual typography (layout of the poem)
• a specifi c rhyme scheme
• a regulated rhythm or meter
• repetition or other forms of emphasis
• metaphors or similes
• Figures of Speech
REMEMBER: As well as pointing out the particular styles or
techniques used by the poet, explain what effect they have and
how these features enhance or impact on the meaning of the
poem as a whole.
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Be aware of the speaker’s tone, as this will infl uence the way in which a poem should be read. Remember that ‘tone’
and ‘attitude’ are synonymous when analysing poetry and will, usually, be indicated by the use of particular diction
(word choice), punctuation or typography. Try to learn and memorise as many words describing tone as possible so that
you have a ‘tone vocabulary’ at your fi ngertips, allowing your answers to be more specifi c.
An important thing to remember is that every choice a poet makes is deliberately implemented to emphasise or en-
hance the meaning of the poem. Whenever you recognise a specifi c feature of a poem, your main concern should be
determining why the poet has chosen to express him- or herself in that way; for example, consider some of the possible
effects of the following popular poetic techniques:
Alliteration:
• to echo the sound of something (e.g. ‘whispering winds’ mimics the sound of a whistling wind)
• to draw attention to particular words
• to create mood or atmosphere
Assonance:
• to create mood
• to link words and ideas by ‘echoing’ the sounds of these words
Simile:
• to emphasise certain characteristics
• to illustrate the similarities between the two things compared in a striking manner
Metaphor:
• to clarify an idea with an unusual comparison
• to evoke certain associations or connotations that emphasise or echo the poet’s meaning or theme
FINALLY
Understanding poetry has everything to do with being open to new ideas and taking your time when assessing each work.
Taking into account pronouncements made by teachers, critics and fellow students is commendable, but every examiner will
reward handsomely students who show that they
have read the poem carefully and are not afraid
to make unique observations in considered,
well-constructed answers that reveal a clear
understanding and are supported by evidence
from the text.
THREE FINAL POINTS TO REMEMBER:
• No statement will be given credit without evidence from the text
• There are no short cuts: revise your work and take the time to
interpret the questions properly
• Poetry is meant to be enjoyed; approach a poem with the
right attitude and the rest is likely to happen more easily than
expected
12 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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alliteration: the repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the
beginning of words (e.g. ‘some sweet sounds’)
allusion: a reference to a familiar literary or historical person or
event that is used to make an idea more easily understood
apostrophe: a statement or question addressed to an inanimate
object, a concept or a nonexistent/absent person
assonance: the repetition of similar vowel sounds in a line of
poetry (e.g. ‘fl eet feet sweep by sleeping geese’)
ballad: a short poem with a repeated refrain, that tells a simple
story and which was originally intended to be sung
blank verse: a line of poetry or prose in unrhymed iambic pen-
tameter. (Often used by Shakespeare and Milton.)
caesura: an extended or dramatic pause within a line of verse
connotations: the range of associations that a word or phrase
suggests, in addition to the straightforward dictionary meaning;
for example, the word ‘discipline’ means order and control, but
also has connotations of suffering and pain
convention: a customary or typical feature of a specifi c type of
literary work (e.g. all sonnets contain 14 lines)
couplet: a pair of rhymed lines, often appearing at the end of a
poem or stanza
diction: the selection and arrangement of words in a poem
elegy: a lyric poem written to grieve and celebrate the life of a
person who has died
epigraph: a short phrase or quotation at the beginning of a liter-
ary work that serves to introduce the theme or subject of that
work
foot: a unit used to measure the metre of a poem; one foot is
made up of two syllables
free verse: poetry without a regular pattern of metre or rhyme
hyperbole: a Figure of Speech in which something is deliberately
exaggerated
iamb: a foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a
stressed syllable
image / imagery: the verbal representation of a sense, impres-
sion, a feeling or idea
internal rhyme: a rhyme that occurs within a single line of verse
irony: when the intended meaning of a statement or comparison
is the exact opposite of what is said
juxtaposition: the placement of two things (often abstract con-
cepts) near each other to create a contrast
lyric: a poem expressing the subjective feelings or emotions of
the poet
metaphor: a comparison between essentially unlike objects or
ideas without an explicitly comparative word such as ‘like’ or ‘as’
metre: the repetition of sound patterns that creates a rhythm
metonymy: the name of one thing is replaced by the name of
something closely associated with it (e.g. ‘Hollywood’ refers to
the American fi lm industry)
octave: a stanza or section of a poem that is eight lines in length
and is often used in the sonnet form
ode: an extended lyric poem that is characterised by exalted
emotion and a dignifi ed style and is usually concerned with a
single, serious theme
onomatopoeia: a word imitates the sound it describes (e.g.
‘buzz’, ‘meow’)
oxymoron: a descriptive phrase that combines two contradictory
terms (e.g. ‘Oh loving hate!’ from Romeo and Juliet )
paradox: a statement that appears illogical or contradictory at
fi rst, but may actually point to an underlying truth
parody: a humorous, mocking imitation of another literary work,
usually intended to be playful and respectful of the original work,
but can sometimes be sarcastic or critical
pastoral: derived from the word ‘pasture’ or ‘pastor’, which
means shepherd; a pastoral poem is concerned with a rural or
nature-based theme
personifi cation: inanimate objects or concepts are given the
qualities of a living thing
pun: a play on words that have similar sounds, but different
meanings
quatrain: a four-line stanza
rhythm (metre): the recurrent pattern of accents or natural
stresses in lines of verse
satire: a work that criticises or ridicules human vices, miscon-
duct or follies
sestet: a stanza or section of a poem that is six lines in length,
which is often used in the sonnet form
simile: a comparison between two unlike things using compara-
tive words, such as ‘like’, ‘as’ or ‘as though’
sonnet: a fourteen-line poem, usually written in iambic pentam-
eter
subject: what the poem is about; the person, event or theme that
forms the focus of the poem
symbol: an object that means more than itself, that represents
something beyond itself
synecdoche: the use of a part to symbolise its corresponding
whole (e.g. the word ‘wheels’ may be used to refer to a car)
theme: the main idea or message of a literary work
GLOSSARY OF POETIC TERMS AND FIGURES OF SPEECH
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ANSWERING CONTEXTUAL POETRY QUESTIONS
1. Examiners want to see that you know what the poem is about; however, many questions are based on how the verse
works, how the poem has been constructed, for instance, and what effect the poet has managed to achieve by using
certain linguistic techniques. Ensure that you read the questions carefully and that you know exactly what is being
asked before attempting to answer a question.
2. Do not re-tell the ‘story’ of the poem unless you have been asked to paraphrase or summarise it.
3. Always answer in coherent, well-structured sentences and avoid awkward constructions; for example, do not
begin answers as follows:
That the man is … ✗✗ It is evident that the man is …✓✓
Because the man is … ✗✗ The man is … therefore … ✓✓
You are expected to write coherent sentences that address the question. It is also important to note that you are not
expected to rewrite the question before you answer it. If the question asks: ‘Quote an adjective that means “outspo-
ken”’, for example, do not answer: An adjective that means outspoken is: ‘frank’. It is acceptable simply to write the
answer: ‘Frank’.
4. Take note of the mark allocation. This is a clear indication of the length and depth of answer that is required. A
one-word answer will not suffi ce for a question worth three marks.
5. Be aware of ‘double-barrelled’ or multi-layered questions. Many students do not answer the different aspects or
sections of a given question; for example:
“What emotion do the words in line 1 convey, and how does this emotion change by the end of the poem? Provide a
reason for your answer.”
The example above requires the student to do three things:
1. State the emotion
2. Explain how it changes by the end of the poem
3. Provide a possible reason for the difference
6. Identifying a Figure of Speech will be awarded a mark, but you are also expected to discuss how it adds to the
meaning of the poem. Ask yourself the following questions:
• What does the Figure of Speech contribute to the poem?
• Does it clarify a point?
• Is it unusual and therefore striking?
• Does it emphasise a point or add humour?
7. Be sincere in your response to the poem. Do not state that a poem is brilliant or deeply moving when, clearly, you do
not agree with this sentiment. You should engage with the text and avoid adopting the views you have gathered from
a rushed reading of a study guide or website on the internet.
8. Avoid beginning sentences with personal pronouns: ‘I really think that…’ or ‘In my opinion this line means…’ is not
acceptable. Always write in the third person and in the present tense: ‘Line 1 means…’ or ‘It is obvious that the
child is upset because…’
14 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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9. Avoid sweeping, generalised statements. You must validate your answers with evidence from the text. It is no use
saying: ‘This is a really effective line’ or ‘This simile is the best I have ever read’. You must PROVE the statements and
observations that you have made.
10. Be prepared to offer your honest opinion about the issues the poem addresses. You should be familiar with the
range of themes expressed in the poem and your answers should be well thought out, candid, insightful and well-
supported with evidence from the poem..
28 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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THE VICTORIANS
INTRODUCTION TO THE VICTORIAN ERA
Like the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, the Victorian era is named
after its reigning monarch. Victoria became the queen of Great
Britain in 1837 and reigned until her death in 1901. Victoria’s reign
is often associated with strict social conventions, sexual restraint
and prudishness. The legs of tables had to be completely covered,
for example, to prevent any indecent association with the same
part of the human anatomy. The literature of the period was gov-
erned by similarly strict conventions. In contrast to the Romantics,
who emphasised the imagination and fantasy, Victorian writers
and audiences favoured realism.
It was a period characterised by peace, economic prosperity, positive politi-
cal reforms and a strong sense of British nationalism. Education was made
more widely available (particularly for girls) and rapid progress was made
in science, medicine, commerce and manufacturing. Britain also expanded
its territorial acquisitions overseas considerably. Despite all these positive
developments, however, the Victorian era was also fraught with severe
social problems.
The urban population of Britain grew rapidly during this period. The Industrial Revolution triggered massive waves of migra-
tion from the countryside to the cities as people sought work in the newly built factories. At the height of the Industrial
Portrait of Queen Victoria, the monarch
after whom the era is named.
Piccadilly Street in central London at the start of the 20th century
(Sch
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Revolution, between 1800 and 1851, an estimated 40 per
cent of the population of Britain moved from the countryside
to urban areas. The infrastructure of the cities could not
cope with such rapid expansion and a large portion of the
urban population found themselves living in overcrowded,
unhygienic slums.
Hunger and malnutrition were rife as increased populations
put a strain on urban food supplies. The lack of sanitation
facilities in the densely-populated shantytowns — where it
was common for up to 10 people to share a single room —
meant that disease spread rapidly and children, in particular,
were susceptible to deadly diseases like typhoid, cholera
and tuberculosis. High levels of unemployment and rampant
crime were also common problems, particularly in London.
The abundance of unskilled labourers compounded the situ-
ation by keeping wages meagre. Children as young as four
years old were routinely made to work to help raise money,
performing odd jobs, such as sweeping chimneys, and they
were even employed under very dangerous conditions in the
factories and mines.
THE VICTORIAN POET
Victorian poets are often viewed as the chroniclers of their day, refl ecting the
social conditions and concerns of the era. The 19th century saw major devel-
opments in poetic ideals; as a movement, however, the Victorian era is often
diffi cult to categorise. Victorian poets were the heirs to the Romantics, and their
works often refl ect similar concerns. As the century progressed, however, many
writers – most notably, Matthew Arnold – began to anticipate the transition to
the Modernist movement.
Perhaps one of the most signifi cant literary developments of the 19th century
was the emergence of the voices of women writers. Before the Victorian era,
very few women achieved recognition as poets. As their access to education
and involvement in public life increased during this century, more and more
women began to publish their writings, causing some controversy among the
more conservative of society.
Among the most famous women writers were the Brontë sisters, Anne, Charlotte
and Emily, who produced several volumes of poetry and novels between them.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Christina Rossetti also achieved recognition and
acclaim for their poetry. These women were responsible for introducing new
voices and perspectives to the reading public, and paved the way for future
female writers.
Many children worked during Victorian times to help supplement family
incomes, taking in washing or chopping wood to sell as kindling.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Although attitudes were gradu-
ally beginning to change, it was still
not considered ‘proper’ for women to
write and publish novels and poetry
during the Victorian era. As a result,
many female authors concealed
their identities and published their
works under male pseudonyms.
George Eliot, for example, was the
penname used by Mary Ann Evans,
while the three Brontë sisters wrote
under the names of Ellis, Currer and
Acton Bell.
SPIRITUALLY BANKRUPT?
Gerard Manley Hopkins, the
Victorian poet-priest, commented
that the age in which he lived ‘lacked
a spiritual centre’ because the sci-
entifi c rationalism and materialism
that was fl ourishing undermined
Christian principles.
(War
ner
H.
(19
12) S
pita
lfi el
ds N
ippe
rs)
30 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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RISE OF THE ENGLISH NOVEL
The Victorian era witnessed the rise of the English novel and of the great
English novelists. Like their poet counterparts, Victorian novelists frequently
engaged with the social problems of the day. The novels of Charles Dickens,
for instance, featured the middle and lower classes and tackled poverty and
child labour, with the grimy streets of London as a backdrop. George Eliot
(Mary Ann Evans) also used her novels to comment on societal issues, for
example, the position of women in Victorian society.
A reaction to the practice of child labour, efforts to implement compulsory
education for children gained signifi cant momentum during the Victorian
era. As a result, this time period is also credited with ‘inventing’ childhood.
A positive side effect of these efforts was that the children’s publishing
industry fl ourished for the fi rst time in history.
GOOD VERSUS EVIL AND THE BACKLASH OF GOTHICISM
The central theme of many Victorian works is good and evil. When compar-
ing the literature of the era with more modern works, this theme often
seems quite didactic. In other words, Victorian works of literature and art
often acted as morality tales, promoting a stern code of ‘correct’ behav-
iour by ensuring that bad characters were always suitably punished and
good ones rewarded.
A reaction against this strict morality found expression in an artistic genre called the Gothic. Gothic works are often de-
scribed as scary ghost stories, but there is more to them than that. While the realistic works of Dickens and Eliot draw a fi rm
boundary between right and wrong, Gothic works often cross or question this boundary. One example of this is Heathcliff,
the anti-hero of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, who resorts to all sorts of trickery to torment the love of his life after
she spurns him.
THE GOOD OLD DAYS
Although they express it differently, the realistic and the Gothic genres of Victorian literature have one thing in common:
nostalgia. Both look back to the past with longing — to the Elizabethan age in particular. Shakespeare’s plays were
regularly performed and contemporary poets often wrote odes and sonnets in the Elizabethan style during the 19th century.
There was also a revival of interest in classical and mediaeval literature, epitomised by Tennyson’s famous “Idylls of the
King”. It is often argued that this longing was the result of the many changes — some very negative — brought about by
industrialisation and urbanisation.
The Victorian Era is considered
‘the age of the English novel’ and
produced some of the most famous au-
thors in literary history:
• Charles Dickens
(Oliver Twist; Bleak House)
• Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë
(Wuthering Heights; Jane Eyre)
• William Thackeray
(Vanity Fair)
• George Eliot
(Middlemarch)
• Thomas Hardy
(Tess of the d’Ubervilles)
• Elizabeth Gaskell
(North and South)
• Oscar Wilde
(The Importance of Being Earnest)
• H.G. Wells
(The War of the Worlds)
• Arthur Conan Doyle
(Sherlock Holmes)
• Lewis Carroll
(Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland)
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ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING 1806 1861
Critics often cite Elizabeth Barrett Browning as the most popu-
lar and infl uential female poet of the Victorian era. She enjoyed
widespread acclaim during her lifetime, and was even hailed as a
serious contender for the position of Poet Laureate of the United
Kingdom after the death of William Wordsworth in 1850. The post
eventually went to Alfred, Lord Tennyson, but Browning remained
one of the most esteemed writers of her generation.
Browning was born on 6 March 1806 to an extremely wealthy family in
County Durham, England, and was the eldest of 12 children. Her family’s
fortune originated from the ownership of extensive sugar plantations in
Jamaica. Browning immersed herself in books and reading as a child; she
once commented that ‘[b]ooks and dreams were what [she] lived in and
domestic life only seemed to buzz gently around, like bees about the grass.’
By the age of four, she had already begun to write her own poetry.
Browning’s childhood was plagued by illness: she developed a lung condition in her early teens that affl icted her for the rest
of her life and, when she was 15, she suffered a painful spinal injury. Despite these setbacks, she was an accomplished and
entirely self-taught scholar, reading Shakespeare before the age of 10 and learning Greek, Latin and Hebrew.
A FAMOUS COURTSHIP
During the 1830s, fi nancial mismanagement of the family’s fortune forced
Browning’s father to sell their grand country estate, and the family moved several
times over the next few years. In the meantime, Browning was establishing her
reputation as a gifted poet: the publication of The Seraphim and Other Poems
in 1838 and Poems in 1844 attracted the attention of notable literary fi gures.
One of her admirers was the poet Robert Browning, who wrote to her shortly after
the publication of Poems to praise her work. Over the next 20 months, the two
exchanged nearly 600 letters, and eloped in 1846. Their romance was strongly
opposed by her father, who jealously guarded what was left of the family’s wealth
and did not want any of his children to marry. He disinherited Browning after her
marriage, and never spoke to her again.
The newlyweds moved to Florence, Italy, where the warmer weather improved
Browning’s ailing health. She bore a son, Robert Wideman Browning, in 1849 at
the age of 43, and continued to write prolifi cally. In 1850, under the encourage-
ment of her husband, she published what was to become her most famous collection, Sonnets from the Portuguese.
Browning had been reluctant to publish Sonnets: it was a deeply personal collection to her, consisting of 44 love sonnets
she had written during her courtship with her husband. When they were fi rst published, she decided to present them as
translations of foreign sonnets, in order to afford herself and her husband some privacy. The title of the collection was a play
on her husband’s nickname for her: ‘my little Portuguese.’
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
After her death, Browning’s
poetic achievements were
hailed across the globe. A writer
for a Boston publication called
Sonnets from the Portuguese the
greatest love poems in the English
language: ‘Shakespeare’s sonnets,
beautiful as they are, cannot be
compared with them, and Petrarch’s
seem commonplace beside them.’
The Edinburgh Review, meanwhile,
declared that ‘Such a combination
of the fi nest genius and the choic-
est results of cultivation and wide-
ranging studies has never been
seen before in any woman.’
(Wik
imed
ia C
omm
ons)
32 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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Browning’s health continued to deteriorate, and she became increasingly dependent on morphine to ease her pain. In June
1861, she contracted a severe cold, which further taxed her already-failing lungs. She died in her husband’s arms on the
morning of 29 June 1861.
“IF THOU MUST LOVE ME” SONNET 14
If thou must love me, let it be for naught 1
Except for love’s sake only. Do not say
‘I love her for her smile … her look … her way
Of speaking gently, … for a trick of thought
That falls in well with mine, and certes brought 5
A sense of pleasant ease on such a day’ –
For these things in themselves, Belovéd, may
Be changed, or change for thee, – and love, so wrought,
May be unwrought so. Neither love me for
Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry, – 10
A creature might forget to weep, who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby!
But love me for love’s sake, that evermore
Thou mayst love on, through love’s eternity.
ANALYSIS
A RELUCTANT ROMANCE
“If thou must love me” is the fourteenth sonnet published as part of Browning’s most famous collection, Sonnets from the
Portuguese. The autobiographic nature of this collection is well-documented; Browning was initially reluctant to publish the
poems because she felt that they were too personal to be read by the general public.
Sonnets from the Portuguese poignantly chronicles the development of the romance between Browning and her husband,
and were written during their secret courtship. Browning’s persistently frail health, and the fact that Robert Browning was
six years younger than she, made her reluctant, at fi rst, to accept his advances. She worried that she would be a burden to
him, and even fretted that his love was based on pity rather than real affection. Theirs proved to be a happy union, however,
and, when she fi nally showed her husband the sonnets in 1849, he insisted that she publish them.
MAKING THE SONNET FORM HER OWN
As the title of her collection suggests, all of the poems in Sonnets from the Portuguese are written in the sonnet format;
however, Browning did not limit herself too strictly to the conventional formats, instead borrowing aspects from the two major
forms of sonnet to suit her purposes.
GLOSSARY
trick (line 4): a characteristic habit
or mannerism
certes (line 5): assuredly, certainly
wrought (line 8): made or fashioned
in a specifi c way
unwrought (line 9): unmade
evermore (line 13): forever, eternally
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Like all sonnets, “If thou must love me” consists of 14 lines and features a regu-
lar rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme that Browning has adopted is typical of
the Petrarchan or Italian sonnet, following a pattern of ABBAABBA CDCDCD;
however, unlike Petrarchan sonnets, Browning’s poem cannot be divided into the
conventional octave and sestet, and does not feature a volta.
Browning’s sonnet does not exactly resemble the structure of a Shakespearean
sonnet, either: the lines cannot be divided into quatrains, which Shakespeare
traditionally used to develop a particular theme or problem. She does, however,
make use of the concluding couplet, which provides a conclusion to the poem.
There is a signifi cant difference in Browning’s use of the couplet, however, in
that where Shakespeare’s couplets rhymed, Browning has followed the rhyme
scheme of the Petrarchan sonnet.
What Browning’s sonnet has in common with both the Petrarchan and Shake-
spearean forms is her use of meter: “If thou must love me” is written in loose
iambic pentameter, with occasional variations to create emphasis.
LOVE FOR LOVE’S SAKE
“If thou must love me” is an unusual love poem, in that the speaker is not describing her love for her partner, but rather
pronouncing how he should love her. The speaker does not wish to be loved for her beauty, which will eventually fade, or
even for her way of thinking, which could change; neither does she want to be loved out of pity. Rather, she wishes that her
partner would love her ‘for love’s sake only’ (line 2).
The diction used in the fi rst line of the poem immediately establishes the speaker’s tone. The inclusion of the word ‘must’
(line 1) hints that the speaker is exasperated by her lover’s insistence, suggesting that she has tried many times to reject his
advances, but that he insists on declaring his love. It also implies that the speaker is not questioning the authenticity of her
lover’s feelings, only their origins.
If her lover insists on loving her, the speaker says, then he must love her ‘for naught / Except for love’s sake only’ (lines
1-2). In other words, there should be no other reason for his love than the pure
spontaneity of the emotion. Note how the poet uses enjambment throughout
the poem, creating a continual fl ow of dialogue between the speaker and her
lover, and ensuring the fast pace of the poem.
The speaker goes on to explain what she means by this statement through the
use of dialogue, in which she imaginatively expresses the reasons she would not
want her lover to harbour affection for her. She does not want to be loved for her
‘smile’ or her ‘look’ (line 3), she says; these are both physical attributes, referring to her beauty. Nor does she want to be
adored for ‘her way / Of speaking gently’ (lines 3-4), as this is simply a habit or mannerism.
The speaker continues to explain that she does not wish to be loved for ‘a trick of thought / That falls in well’ (lines 4-5)
with her lover’s, meaning that she and her lover think in similar ways or have alike temperaments. Though these similarities
may bring about ‘a sense of pleasant ease’ (line 6) between them, ensuring that they enjoy each other’s company without
diffi culty, the speaker rejects this as a basis for love.
Remember, enjambment
occurs when a meaningful
phrase or sentence fl ows fl uidly
from one line to the next, rather than
terminating at the end of the line.
A Petrarchan sonnet is com-
posed of an eight-line octave,
which poses a question or prob-
lem, and a six-line sestet, which
provides a solution or resolution.
The two stanzas are separated by
a volta, which indicates a change of
thought or direction from argument
to solution.
Iambic pentameter is one
of the most common meters
in English poetry. It indicates
that each line of verse consists
of fi ve feet (or 10 syllables), in an
unstressed-stressed syllabic pat-
tern.
34 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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The speaker then explains why none of these reasons is good enough for her lover to adore her: ‘these things in themselves’
(line 7), or in other words, these reasons on their own, ‘may / Be changed, or change for thee’ (lines 7-8). What the speaker
means here is that her physical beauty – her smile and good looks – will not last forever, and even her mannerisms and
ways of thinking might change. Alternatively, her lover’s temperament may change with time, and the things he once found
attractive in her may no longer appeal to him one day.
For this reason, she does not wish to be loved on the basis of these attributes – because ‘love, so wrought / May be
unwrought so’ (lines 8-9). In other words, if her lover’s feelings are based on these changeable qualities, then his feelings
may change in turn, and he may not love her anymore one day.
The speaker says she does not want to be loved for ‘Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry’ (line 10). What she means
here is that she does not want her partner’s love to be based on pity for her, or expressed as a means of making her feel
better. If this is the case, she says, then the comfort she draws from his love may make her ‘forget to weep’ (line 11), and
her lover, in turn, will no longer pity or love her as a result.
A REASON TO LOVE
The fi rst 12 lines of the poem allow the speaker to list the many attributes on which her lover should not base his love:
her physical beauty, her manner of speaking or thinking, or pity for her. In the concluding couplet, the speaker fi nally
describes a good reason for loving her.
The speaker wishes to be loved ‘for love’s sake’ (line 13) – in other words, her partner should feel a spontaneous rush
of emotion towards her, one that cannot be pared down to a fi nite list of reasons. This kind of love, she says, will last for
‘evermore’ (line 13), and will not change with time. If this is why he loves her, then he will ‘love on’ through ‘eternity’ (line
14) – and only then may she truly trust his declarations.
QUESTIONS
1. Using the correct symbols, scan the fi rst two lines of the poem, indicating stressed syllables (■), unstressed
syllables (■) and feet (|). (3)
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2. Based on your answer to the above question, identify the type of meter used by the poet in these lines. (2)
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3. How would you describe the tone of the poem as a whole? Provide sound reasoning for your answer. (3)
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4. What effect is created by the speaker’s fusion of two different sonnet formats? (2)
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5. Provide a synonym for the word ‘naught’ (line 1). (1)
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6. Identify the punctuation mark which the poet uses repeatedly in lines 3 to 4, and comment on its effect in
this context. (3)
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36 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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9. Comment on the use of the word ‘creature’ (line 11), explaining to whom it refers and the effect of this choice
of diction. (3)
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14. Compare “If thou must love me” with the 43rd sonnet in Browning’s collection, Sonnets from the
Portuguese, entitled “How do I love thee?”. In a well-structured paragraph, discuss how the speaker’s attitude
towards love and her partner have developed between the earlier and later poems, referring to the poet’s use
of form, tone and diction. (8)
“HOW DO I LOVE THEE?” SONNET 43
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. 1
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s 5
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith. 10
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
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82 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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LATE MODERNISM / POSTMODERNISM
INTRODUCTION TO LATE MODERNISM / POSTMODERNISM
The exact ‘end’ of Modernism remains a conten-
tious debate among scholars. Some academics
date the end of Modernism with the outbreak
of World War II in 1939, while others argue that
Modernist infl uences continued well into the
1980s. ‘Postmodernism’ complicates matters
even further. A controversial term in itself, post-
modernism is used by some scholars simply to
refer to the chronological time period after Mod-
ernism, others use it to describe a distinctive way
of thinking and a lot of academics even argue
that the term is now used so broadly and vaguely
that it has become meaningless.
Despite the areas of continued contention, most
scholars agree that the beginnings of the Modern-
ism movement are found in the late 19th century,
when great scientifi c and technological advances
prompted a transformation in the way the world
was perceived. The heydays of experimental, avant-
garde Modernist expression are usually considered
to have occurred between 1910 and 1930, and the
movement is considered to have reached its peak
around the outbreak of World War I, when profound
trauma and a collective sense of disillusionment
called into question the values on which an entire
civilisation had been established.
A REACTION TO THE HORRORS OF WARFARE?
Also known as ‘Late Modernism’, Postmodernism is diffi cult to
defi ne because the movement is, essentially, a reaction to early
Modernism. It is a rejection of the overtly confi dent, positive
and self-satisfi ed assumptions and values that epitomised early
Modernism. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that the movement
germinated in the aftermath of two World Wars, Postmodern-
ism is characterised by scepticism, subjectivism and an acute
sensitivity to the power of economic and political ideologies.
This witty and thought-provoking piece by Polish artist Maciej Ratajski, entitled Is This Art?,
is an example of Postmodern art that challenges our ideas about what ‘art’ is or should be.
What do you think? Is this art?
SOME OF THE MOST NOTABLE POSTMODERN
WRITERS INCLUDE
• Don DeLillo (White Noise)
• John Fowles (The French Lieutenant’s Woman)
• Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho)
• Joseph Heller (Catch-22)
• Hunter S. Thompson (Fear and Loathing in Las
Vegas)
• Paul Auster (The New York Trilogy)
• Yann Martel (Life of Pi)
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS OF
POSTMODERNISM:
• Germinated in the late 20th century (sometime between the
1940s and the 1980s)
• Disillusionment with the promises of Modernism
(i.e. unrelenting progress, driven by technology)
• Scepticism and doubt replaces reason and certainty
(there are no absolute truths)
• Morality and ethics are personal and relative
(not traditional, objective or fi xed)
• Globalisation instead of nationalism
(unity and cooperation instead of division and confl ict)
© M
acie
j Rat
ajsk
i
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OBJECTIVE OBSERVATION IS NOT POSSIBLE
Despite the diffi culties in defi ning Postmodernism, the literature con-
sidered to be part of the movement exhibits several distinguishing
characteristics. Postmodern writers reject many of the concepts upon
which Modernism was established. Most notably, they undermine the
concepts of universality (the notion that anything can transcend the
context of its time and place) and objectivity. In contrast, they explore
the issue of subjectivism — rejecting an objective, external reality in
favour of contemplating the subjective, inner consciousness.
Postmodern writers argue against the Modernist assumption that
personal perspective can be applied to all human experience (i.e.
universality); instead, their writing refl ects the belief that objective
observation is impossible to achieve, since every person naturally allows his or her own history, values and understanding to
infl uence his or her assessment of the world.
OTHER COMMON FEATURES AND TECHNIQUES OF POSTMODERN LITERATURE:
• Emphasises the subjective and personal
• Ironic, darkly comic and often paranoid
• Mixes up genres and styles (pastiche)
• Features intertextuality and temporal distortions (fragmented, non-linear narratives)
ARE YOU POST-POSTMODERN?
Some academics have taken the ‘post’ trend
one step further and are claiming that we are
currently in a Post-postmodern (or Metamodern)
era. Once again, no consensus has been reached
in defi ning Post-postmodernism: some critics
believe that it marks a return to the principles of
Modernism, while others argue that it indicates
an escalation or intensifi cation of Postmodern
capitalist values in modern society.
84 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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PHOEBE HESKETH 1909 2005
Despite being a lesser-known name in Modernist literature,
Phoebe Hesketh’s long and fruitful career as a poet produced
some of the most beautifully crafted work of the era. Known
mostly as a ‘nature poet’, Hesketh was respected by her peers
for the emotional power and directness of her verse, and was
compared with the likes of Emily Brontë and Emily Dickinson.
Hesketh was born in 1909 in Lancashire, England, where she lived for
almost her entire life. Her father, Arthur Rayner, was a renowned radiolo-
gist, and her mother was an accomplished violinist. From a young age,
she showed great promise as a poet, and her father would take her
for long walks around the famed Lake District while reciting poems by
William Wordsworth. At the age of 17, she left school to care for her
terminally ill mother; a few years later, she married Aubrey Hesketh, with
whom she had three children.
Her fi rst volume of poetry, titled simply Poems, appeared in 1939, but she later disowned this work to a large extent, dis-
missing it as juvenile. It was not until her second volume, Lean Forward, Spring! appeared nine years later, in 1948, that she
earned critical acclaim. In the intervening years, during World War II, she worked as a journalist for the Bolton Evening News.
Hesketh went on to produce 14 volumes of poetry, a collection of poems for
children, and four biographies and autobiographies, as well as a number of
scripts for the BBC. She also worked as a freelance journalist and taught
literature and creative writing at several schools and universities. She died in
a nursing home in Lancashire at the age of 96.
CONTEMPLATING DEATH AND THE NATURE OF SACRIFICE
The idyllic landscapes of her hometown proved to be a great source of inspira-
tion for Hesketh and her love of nature motivated some of her greatest poetic
works; however, personal tragedy also infl uenced much of her writing. After
the tragic death of her young son, she wrote a number of religious poems
focused on the Resurrection of Christ and the nature of sacrifi ce. The slow
decline and eventual death of her husband saw the penning of some of her
most morbid and sinister verses. Hesketh herself recognised that her focus
shifted away from nature as her career progressed, and that her verse steadily
became ‘less fl owery and happy and more bleak’. Over the course of her
60-year career, her precise technical skill, sensitivity to detail and emotional
force established her as a poet of considerable talent; though, strangely, her
work receives very little critical attention.
Phoebe Hesketh
As a young girl, Hesketh was in-
spired to write by her aunt, Edith
Rigby, a leading English suffra-
gette. Rigby was a fi erce activist who
founded a school aimed at educating
girls, and was incarcerated seven
times during her life for her political
activities. Hesketh published a biogra-
phy about her aunt in 1966, titled My
Aunt Edith.
RESTING IN PEACE?
Before her death, Hesketh told her
doctor that she would like her memorial
stone to read: ‘The day of death is bet-
ter than the day of one’s birth’. When
he told her that he didn’t like that at all,
she replied, ‘It doesn’t matter, you’re
not going to have it’.
(Eni
thar
mon
Pre
ss,
Lond
on)
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“A POEM IS A PAINTING”
A poem is a painting that is not seen;
A painting is a poem that is not heard.
That’s what poetry is— 1
A painting in the mind.
Without palette and brush
it mixes words into images.
The mind’s edge sharpens the knife 5
slashing the canvas with savage rocks
twisting trees and limbs into tortuous shapes
as Van Gogh did
or bewitched by movement’s grace,
captures the opalescent skirts 10
of Degas’ ballet dancers.
But words on the page
as paint on canvas
are fi xed.
It’s in the spaces between 15
the poem is quickened.
ANALYSIS
“A Poem is a Painting” is a relatively simple, straightforward poem in which Hesketh compares the art
of poetry to the art of painting. The speaker suggests that both poetry and paintings create images that
are brought to life in the imaginations of the poet/painter and the audience. The most striking aspects of
Hesketh’s poem are her use of imagery, metaphor and comparison to emphasise the similarities between
poetry and painting. Her vivid and colourful descriptions reinforce the subject of her poem so that words in
poetry are used in much the same way as colours on a canvas, in that they are used to create images in the
minds of the audience.
TITLE AND EPIGRAPH
The poem opens with a two-line epigraph that reads: ‘A poem is a painting that is not seen; / A painting is a poem that is
not heard’. Immediately, the subject of the poem and the comparisons it draws are made clear. The speaker is emphasising
the similarities and relationship between these two different art forms. The speaker suggests that poetry and painting are
essentially the same form, in that they create images for the audience the difference between the two is the way in which
these images are created, or the medium through which they are expressed. The epigraph suggests that the speaker is in
some way trying to defi ne the meaning of poetry, whether simply for him- or herself or for a larger audience.
The epigraph recalls a quotation from artist and inventor, Leonardo da Vinci, who once wrote: ‘Painting is poetry which is
seen and not heard, and poetry is a painting which is heard but not seen’ (The Paragone, 1651).
GLOSSARY
palette (line 3): a thin board or
tablet on which an artist mixes
paints or pigments
tortuous (line 7): full of twists and
turns
opalescent (line 10): exhibiting a kind
of milky iridescence, like an opal; a
lustrous rainbow-like play of colour
that tends to change as the angle of
view changes
quickened (line 16): to become
enlivened; to make alive
86 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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A TALE OF TWO PAINTINGS
The fi rst two lines of the poem respond to the ‘defi nition’ of poetry suggested by the epigraph. The speaker reinforces
this defi nition by declaring that poetry is ‘A painting in the mind’ (line 2). Once again, the similarities between the two art
forms are emphasised, suggesting that although both create images, they use different mediums of expression to do so. The
speaker suggests that while the images created by the words of a poem may not be tangible or physically visible, as those
created by paintings are, they are nonetheless visible in the mind of the audience and the poet. Poets use a pen, rather than
the artist’s ‘palette and brush’ (line 3), to turn ‘words into images’ (line 4), suggesting the power of words to convey the
images in the mind of the poet to the imagination of the audience.
In line 5, the speaker extends this comparison between the tools of the
artist and the tools of a poet. The speaker uses a metaphor here to liken an
artist’s palette knife, a blunt tool used to mix and apply paints, to the mind
of the poet. Just as the artist uses a palette knife to create and apply the
most vivid colours to a canvas, so does a poet use his mind to fi nd the cor-
rect ‘mix’ of words that ‘sharpens’ (line 5) the poetic image being created.
In the remainder of the fi rst stanza, the speaker actually enacts the
subject of the poem, by using words to ‘paint’ or create images for the
audience. The speaker achieves this by describing the paintings of two
famous artists: Vincent van Gogh and Edgar Degas.
The two paintings the speaker describes are not specifi cally identifi ed:
their subjects are common depictions or themes of the two painters. The
van Gogh painting is described as portraying ‘savage rocks’ (line 6) and
‘twisting trees’ (line 7), a description which could be applied to many of
his vivid, dramatically distorted natural landscapes. Degas, meanwhile,
is famed for his dozens of paintings of graceful ballet dancers (line 11)
in the midst of dancing, and is noted for his skill in depicting ‘movement’s
grace’ (line 9).
By using rich, vivid descriptions to refer to familiar artwork by famed artists, the speaker is actually enacting the similarities
between poetry and painting that are the subject of the poem as a whole. The highly expressive and colourful diction of
these lines evokes very vivid images in the imaginations of the audience images which will be identifi ed as familiar as
the speaker reveals the names of the artists only after describing their paintings. The speaker suggests that poetry creates
images in the minds of the audience, and by describing these paintings, the speaker proves the point by doing just that:
creating images with words. The power of these words to create a vast range of images is emphasised by the stark contrast
between the descriptions of these two paintings: one is dark, twisted and forbidding, while the other is ethereal, beautiful
and enchanting.
IMAGINATION BRINGS ART TO LIFE
A ‘twist’ or surprising conclusion is contained in the second stanza. While the fi rst stanza is dedicated to describing the
power of words and paints in creating vivid and potent images, the second stanza undercuts this suggestion of power,
by declaring that these images ‘are fi xed’ (line 14). The speaker declares that ‘words on the page’ (line 12) and ‘paint on
a canvas’ (line 13) are in fact limited: what really gives life and power to the images they create is the imagination. The
Vincent van Gogh (1853 – 1890) was
a Dutch post-Impressionist painter,
who was little-known during his lifetime
but later celebrated as one of the most
infl uential fi gures in 20th century art. Many
of his most famous paintings depict natural
landscapes, trees, fl owers and wheat fi elds.
Edgar Degas (1834 – 1917) was a
French artist regarded as one of the
founders of Impressionism. He is acclaimed
for his mastery in depicting movement,
particularly dancing – over half of his works
depict dancers – and for his complex por-
traiture of female nudes.
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speaker uses the word ‘quickened’ (line 16) to describe this process of coming to life, a word which evokes two meanings.
To ‘quicken’ can mean to hasten or accelerate, which is suggestive of the life or movement given to artistic description by
the imagination of the artist or audience. ‘Quicken’ also means to enliven, and is used in a more archaic form to refer to the
fi rst signs of life felt in the womb of an expectant mother. These meanings suggest that art is given life by the imagination.
The speaker says that this process of art coming to life occurs ‘in the spaces between’ (line 15), referring to what is not
said or depicted in a poem or painting. Read literally, this refers to the blank spaces between lines of poetry. The speaker is
suggesting the importance of the role of the audience here: it is up to each individual to fi ll those blank spaces with his or
her own imagination, to bring his or her own creativity and experiences to his or her appreciation of art in order to bring it to
life. Without this kind of engagement with the audience, a work of art – whether it is a poem or a painting – remains ‘fi xed’
(line 14) and lifeless. This assertion of the importance of personal, subjective experience is typical of Postmodern philosophy.
Rehearsal on Stage by Edgar Degas.
The Olive Trees by Vincent van Gogh.
(Wik
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(Wik
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POETIC DEVICES
As noted previously, the speaker frequently makes use of comparison and metaphor to emphasise the similarities between
the art forms of poetry and painting. A painter’s brush or palette knife is compared with the mind of a poet, for example, as
both are the tools with which images are created (line 5).
This poem is an example of ekphrasis, or the graphic description of a work of art using words. Ekphrasis is intended to
bring the subject into the mind’s eye of the reader, and is evident in this poem in the descriptions of the paintings by van
Gogh and Degas. Usually employed to praise rather than criticise a work of art, ekphrasis often addresses an image, makes
it speak in turn, interprets the image or describes the experience of viewing the image.
Hesketh has made use of the free verse form here: there is no strict or structured rhythm, metre or rhyme scheme, and
her stanzas are irregular in length. The lack of a formal structure refl ects the freedom of the artist or poet, and the irregular
line lengths can be seen as refl ecting the movement of brush strokes on a canvas.
QUESTIONS
1. Explain the function of an epigraph, referring to the poem as an example to illustrate your answer. (4)
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2. Why would Hesketh describe poetry as something that is ‘heard’ in the epigraph, rather than something that
is read? (3)
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3. Identify the punctuation mark used at the end of the fi rst line of the epigraph, and explain its function in this
context. (3)
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4. What poetic device is used in the fi rst two lines of the poem (‘That’s what poetry is— / A painting in the mind’),
and what meaning is implied here? (3)
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5. Identify the Figure of Speech in the phrase ‘twisting trees’ (line 7) and comment on its effectiveness. (3)
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6. Why does the speaker not choose specifi c paintings to describe in the fi rst stanza, and what effect is created by
revealing the names of the famous painters only after the descriptions of the paintings associated with them? (5)
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7. Identify the punctuation mark in the phrase ‘Degas’ ballet dancers’ (line 11) and explain its function and
placement in this context. (3)
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8. Comment on the way in which the speaker characterises the ‘moods’ of the paintings described, indicating how
this characterisation is achieved. (4)
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9. What effect is created by placing the words ‘are fi xed’ (line 14) on their own line? (2)
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10. Why are ‘words’ (line 12) and ‘paint’ (line 13) described as ‘fi xed’ (line 14), and how does the speaker suggest
that this may be overcome? (4)
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11. To what is the speaker referring in the phrase ‘the spaces between’ (line 15)? (2)
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12. Explain how the double meaning of the word ‘quickened’ (line 16) applies to your understanding of the fi nal line
of the poem. (3)
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92 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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13. In your own words, describe how the typography or ‘look’, as well as the rhythm and rhyme scheme, of the poem
reinforces its subject. (4)
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14. Consider the following poem “The Starry Night” by Postmodern poet Anne Sexton, which also takes as its
subject a painting by Vincent van Gogh. By referring to both this poem and Hesketh’s as illustrative examples,
provide a defi nition for the term ‘ekphrasis’, showing how each poet uses art to explore her particular themes. (7)
“THE STARRY NIGHT” ANNE SEXTON 1928 1974
The town does not exist 1
except where one black-haired tree slips
up like a drowned woman into the hot sky.
The town is silent. The night boils with eleven stars.
Oh starry starry night! This is how 5
I want to die.
It moves. They are all alive.
Even the moon bulges in its orange irons
to push children, like a god, from its eye.
The old unseen serpent swallows up the stars. 10
Oh starry starry night! This is how
I want to die:
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into that rushing beast of the night,
sucked up by that great dragon, to split
from my life with no fl ag, 15
no belly,
no cry.
© Anne Sexton (1961) Reproduced by permission of SLL/Sterling Lord Literistic, Inc.
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[50]
The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh
(Wik
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204 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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“THE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH US” WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 1770 1850
The world is too much with us; late and soon, 1
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; 5
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping fl owers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; 10
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.
QUESTIONS
1. Identify the form of Wordsworth’s poem, and explain how you were able to do so. (4)
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2. Provide a defi nition for the term ‘volta’, using the poem to illustrate your answer. (3)
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3. In your own words, paraphrase the speaker’s argument in the poem. (2)
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4. Identify and explain the Figure of Speech in the phrase ‘sordid boon’ (line 4). (2)
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5. What is meant by a ‘creed outworn’ (line 10)? (1)
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206 P H O TO C O P Y I N G O F T H I S R E S O U R C E I S I N C O N T R AV E N T I O N O F T H E C O P Y R I G H T A C T ( N O. 9 8 1 9 7 8 )
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6. Consider the following explanations of the mythological fi gures to whom Wordsworth makes reference in the poem
(‘Proteus’ [line 13] and ‘Triton’ [line 14]):
Proteus is the god of the sea in Greek mythology, who had the ability to change his shape at will. Triton is also
a fi gure from Greek mythology, and is the messenger of the sea. He controlled the waves by blowing on his conch
shell horn. Both Proteus and Triton have strong connections to the powerful forces of nature and Pagan religion.
Using the above explanation to inform your answer, explain why the speaker refers to Proteus and Triton in the
fi nal lines of the poem. (3)
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